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Adapting PotA
'Princes of the Apocalypse' Called by the Elder Elemental Eye to serve, four corrupt prophets have risen from the depths of anonymity to claim mighty weapons with direct links to the power of the elemental princes. Each of these prophets has assembled a cadre of cultists and creatures to serve them in the construction of four elemental temples of lethal design. It is up to adventurers from heroic factions such as the Emerald Enclave and the Order of the Gauntlet to discover where the true power of each prophet lay, and dismantle it before it comes boiling up to obliterate the Realms. Designed as a complex situation unfolding in central western Faerûn, this could come before or after the Zero Hour Campaign. The PotA campaign's default setting is Faerûn, in areas roughly within Lords' Alliance influence, but well outside direct Stonehearth jurisdiction. Check out the Wizards of the Coast link for the fantastic Princes of the Apocalypse campaingn. Here's how it would look, adapting it according to the Subjects, Allies or Opponents approach noted in the Crucible. 'Subjects' Stonehearth subjects are likely to have grown up within the jurisdiction and are already "in the system." A third-party campaign like this is unlikely to have level-1 characters that are in the Stonehearth Arms at any level be deployed to areas outside the jurisdiction, but it's distinctly possible that a regional immigrant and recent Stonehearth citizen could have just completed training and perhaps their first deployment rotation when the Sergeants-at-Arms (SA) pick up signals of something odd happening in the area. They send the PC (or PCs) back to their home region in an "unofficial capacity" to do some intelligence collection. This could work for multiple entry-level PCs, or just one as the rest of the party plays as Allies. Alternately, this could be a Direct Action mission for Stonehearth Marines (it's close to a river), Rangers (because it really ranges all over the place), or characters in the shadowy Sergeants-at-Arms. These options would make the PCs over-powered for the campaign as written, especially as they're getting acquiainted with the area, but that also makes for an easier learning curve on the house rules of primal magic. If the DM is prepared for a speed run that's more about the roleplay, fantastic – because the majority of the combat will be over quickly – and that could be great for a table that prefers roleplay. 'Allies' This is the perfect opportunity to bring in new players, or players with new characters, who are at the periphery of Stonehearth influence. In this case, the in-book NPCs and monsters will be using default magic and rules, with the exception that spell scrolls and potions may have more availability in this world. There are already ample story hooks for the PCs, and the DM can still lean on them for flavor, but the connection here is that there is a concerned traveler which may be an alternate, substitute or addition to the written NPCs. That concerned traveler may appear to be any number of things, such as a traveling merchant, but is, in fact, an SA agent that's scouting the area but reticent to take direct action because it's outside Stonehearth jurisdiction and there are local "political sensitivities." In this case, the SA becomes the case officer and the players are local adventurers that become the agents. The SA may or may not reveal their identity right away, but will reward the PCs handsomely for getting the job done – and may even offer additional incentives such as highly-prized Primal Magic items. If the PCs play this at least ethical true-neutral or better, the SA would suggest (or offer) Stonehearth citizenship and possibly recruitment and training. 'Opponents' It is possible to play this campaign as a spoiler – though that will require extra homework on the part of the DM. This could work either for or against the Elemental Princes (and the work would double again if the PCs work for the Princes as the whole campaign is oriented toward stopping them). Still... The PCs could be recruited by an SA, then hung out to dry by the rare bad apple. That lets the PCs fight the PotA opponents as written, but turns the PCs against Stonehearth. Alternately, if the DM wants to rewrite this from the inside out, the players could play this in the role of elemental cultists that either fight off adventurers, or leave their cult behind on hearing rumors of finding ways to use Primal Magic for their own purposes. Category:DM/GM Notes